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“Of course we can,” I tell him.

As we take a moment just with us, Oliver’s hands around my waist as we silently sway to no music, I take a mental picture of this moment.

The childhood my kids will have will only be one full of laughter, light, and happiness—the exact opposite of what I grew up in. The home Oliver I have created despite all we’ve been through is something worth celebrating.

“Can you believe we made it here, love? I can’t thank you enough for giving me our beautiful children and this life of ours.”

“We made it because we deserve it, Ol,” I remind him. “And you as a father is quite literally the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

He presses a kiss to my lips, deepening it before a knock on the door breaks us apart, our kids rushing down the hall to open it to their cousins, Uncle Grant, and Aunt Hads.

“Are you ready for the chaos, my love?” I ask him, a huge smile on my face .

“I wouldn't want it any other way, Mrs. Baker.”

The Manuscript by Taylor Swift

“Claire, how does this look?” I say as I hoist Caleb, my youngest son, over my shoulder. “Do you think this would look good on the Christmas card?”

“Well,” she laughs as she clicks some photos, “per Hads’ instructions, no, but I can always give you copies for your latest scrapbook.”

“Were matching sweaters really necessary?” Oliver asks as he walks over with Aspen in his arms. “And outside in this weather? If one of my kids gets sick, it’s on you, Carter.”

“Ol,” Paige says as she grabs Aspen from him. “What did I tell you before we left the house this morning?”

“No arguing with Grant.” He rolls his eyes. “I know we’ve done the whole matching thing before, but it feels cheesy.”

“Cheesy, yes, but adorable and family-like was the main goal here,” my beautiful wife says as she holds our newborn, both of them wrapped in coats. “We’re a big family, Oliver.”

“Well, I wonder why that is.” He smirks.

“What did I do?” I feign innocence .

“You procreated a bit too much with my little sister,” he jokes. I know he’s joking, because he cried every time he held one of our kids in the hospital. Uncle Oliver is a big softie, but he’s too afraid to admit it.

“Hads and I wanted a big family,” I reiterate.

“Claire and I stopped at two,” Jacks says as he carries more equipment over for his wife. “And remind me to send Ella and Leo a gift for watching them while we’re here. Cece and Ezra were a bit fussy this morning.”

“Ezra Grant Moore was being fussy?” I say, my hand on my chest. “Well, it looks like he takes after his namesake.”

“Oh, then we can blame you for him not wanting to sleep all last night?” Jacks jokes.

“I’ve never had any problem getting him down when I watch him.”

“Because you have the secret touch,” Claire tells me, and I fist bump her.

“Ella and Leo are the best babysitters,” Paige insists. “But can we get this show on the road?”

“We have book club tonight,” Hads reminds us, as if we could all forget it was Wednesday. Little does she know, I have a surprise for her, and I’m practically itching to tell her about it.

The boys and I have been planning this for weeks, and I don’t think any of the girls suspect a thing.

“We’ll be home in time for that,” I say as I press a kiss to Hads’ forehead. “Don't worry, baby.”

“How do you want us, Claire?” Paige asks, and Claire goes full-on photographer mode as she sets us all up. The Carter family is on the left, the Baker family on the right, and with six kids between our two families, I can’t help but smile.

I always wanted a big family—growing up an only child made me yearn for this, and now I have it.

Hads and I are outnumbered by two, but somehow, we still make a great team.

That girl is my rock, my support. My wife.

My soul. My future. My light. I finally reached her all those years ago, and now, as we stand here with our families, I find myself wanting to slow time down.

It’s going too fast. It’s speeding through the years, and I’m desperate to savor more of these moments with her. No amount of time in the world will ever be enough with Hads, and I hope in the next life we’re able to find one another again.

“Jacks?”

“Yes, gorgeous?”

“Can you move my light a few inches to the left?”

“Of course.” He does, and the rest of us hold our positions as we await further instructions from Claire. She is the professional, after all.

“Hads,” I whisper to her, not moving my head. “Remember when I told you that you were like the spring?”

“Yes…” she says, a confused expression on her face.

“Well, I was wrong.”

“You were? The most beautiful thing you said to me when we first got together, you were wrong about?”

I nod.

“And what does that mean?”

“You’re not just the spring, at least not anymore.” I shove her with my shoulder. “You’re all the seasons, every single one of them. You are my forever, Hadleigh Carter. Not just one season, but somehow, all four wrapped into one.”

“I love you, pretty boy.”

“I love you too, Hades.”

“Are you guys ready?” Claire asks us all. “Everyone smile for the camera!”

The camera flashes, photos are taken, but one thing will always remain the same—our family.

We’re messy and dysfunctional, but we’re ours.

I’ll always be grateful to the four girls who sat in a classroom to read a book.

Somehow, by some stroke of luck, I’m able to be a part of this journey we’re all on together.

“Did I really need to be blindfolded for this?” I ask my husband as he leads me up the stairs. “I’m having déjà vu.”

“Yes, baby,” he tells me. “A few more steps, and we’re almost there.”

I sigh heavily as I let him lead me to our destination. The boys texted in the group chat earlier, letting us girls know we were in for a surprise tonight, so I assume the rest of the girls are also being blindfolded and led to the same place. I can’t lie, I’m nervous for some reason.

Jacks and Claire are watching all of our kids, and bless their hearts for agreeing to take all of them on such short notice.

“It took you long enough,” I hear my brother say. “What took you two so long?”

“Traffic,” Grant tells him.

“Can we take off these blindfolds now?” I hear Amelia say, annoyance in her tone. “I only agreed to wearing this for a short amount of time.”

“We’re almost ready, Mills,” Henry says to her.

“I bet this is foreplay for you two,” Grant snarks, probably aiming it at Ella and Leo.

“Not this time,” Leo affirms.

“I will claw your eyes out if you ever try to get me to wear one of these again, Zimmerman,” Ella threatens her husband.

“We have the same surname, darling,” Leo reminds her. “You don’t quite scare me anymore.”

“Keep one eye open tonight while you’re sleeping,” she tells him.

“Now that we’re all here, can we take these off?” I ask Grant as he moves around me.

“One moment, girls,” he says, and I hear a lock click, a door slowly opening before he grabs my hand, leading me inside. “Okay, now you can take them off.”

I undo mine, and tears spring to my eyes almost immediately as I recognize where we are.

Grand Mountain College—the same classroom where we started book club in all those years ago.

“What are we doing here?” I ask as I turn to meet Grant. “Are we even allowed in here?”

“Celebrating,” Leo says as he grabs a bottle of champagne from next to a bunch of snacks and our book club choice for this month.

“Celebrating what?” Paige asks, her eyes also full of tears.

“You guys,” Oliver tells us. “Because without your book club, none of our lives would be where they are today.”

“And that’s the truth,” Henry reminds us. “You four are responsible for the lives we’re all living.”

“What’s that?” Ella asks as she points to a small plaque on the wall. The four of us walk over to it, reading the small inscription.

For The Grand Mountain Book Club: Hads, Paige, Ella, and Amelia. Four started as strangers, four ended as family.

Plaque donated by Grant, Oliver, Leo, and Henry .

“You guys did this for us?” Amelia asks, tears falling down her cheeks.

“It was the least we could do,” Grant tells us.

“You four are special,” Leo states. “And though we let you know every day how thankful we are for you, this plaque is there to remind you.”

“Books brought you together, but the impression you made on one another will last lifetimes,” Henry reminds us. “Lifetimes in the form of our kids.”

“You guys…” Paige sniffles.

“I can’t believe this,” I say through my own tears. I used to hate crying. Now, I find myself doing it constantly at the littlest things. Rosalie, my daughter, latched onto my finger the other day, and I started bawling.

“Do you guys remember the first time we all sat in here?” Amelia asks us.

“Of course we do,” I answer. “It was the day everything changed.”

“Can you believe where we are now?” Amelia asks, and we all stand silently, really taking in the moment.

“And it’s all thanks to books.” Paige smiles before she wraps us all in a group hug. “I love you guys so much.”

“Books are magical,” Ella says, squeezing us all a little tighter.

“You four are the real magic,” Grant reminds us.

And as the eight of us reminisce on the good old days, I find myself thanking the college version of myself for walking into this room on campus. I never would have guessed this is where it would have led me—sitting here years later with the same girls I started this journey with.

“Can you guys believe I once paced this room at the thought of tutoring Grant?” I smile, my cheeks flushing at the memory.

“And four children later, we’re as happy as can be,” he reminds me.

“My fondest memory was when Oliver practically shoved me to the classroom next door to secretly talk about our investigation.” Paige smiles as my brother hugs her from behind.

I can’t believe I was ever so blind to those two and their feelings for one another.

Paige was the best thing to happen to my brother.

“You wouldn't stop staring at my arms, love,” Oliver reminds her before I roll my eyes.

“I remember all the times I cursed out Leo while sitting in this exact chair,” Ella says, giving Leo a dirty look.

“Was that before or after our first slip-up, darling?” he asks his wife, a challenge in his voice as she flips him off.

“I have nightmares about that first conversation when you all met Henry,” Amelia says. “I have never been more terrified in my entire life.”

“I remember that night fondly,” Henry tells her. “We had the best dinner after, and you kept denying your feelings for me.”

The room erupts with laughter, and stories are traded well into the night. I take a deep breath before we leave, the four of us girls looking back at this classroom that holds our most special college memories.

When I first walked into this room all those years ago, I never would have guessed what was to come.

I got to watch Paige fall in love with my brother and find a family in all of us that she didn't have as a kid. I was lucky enough to see Ella finally let someone take care of her after all the years she’s spent taking care of her sister and the three of us since we became friends.

And I got to watch Amelia come back and fight for her friendships after struggling to stay in one place.

Now, we’re all here, still choosing one another every single day.

We’ve created one giant family, the four of us, and all of them got to watch me fall in love with Grant, finally learning to trust again after all I had been through.

I can almost see the younger versions of ourselves looking back at us.

I hope they’re proud of who we’ve become.

Actually, I know they are; those versions live inside us no matter how old we get, and the girl I was back then always reminds me of how lucky we are to have gone to that book club meeting in the first place .

I never would have imagined books could have brought me this life I’m living, but damn, I got super fucking lucky.

The End.